Sorry it took me so long to update. I'm back at school, and I' taking a heap of extension classes, so the homework flow is rather high, and yesterday I read the new Harry Potter book! It took me 10 hours, but I did it in one day! I was awesome. I highly recommend it! Anyway, we're nearing the end, but I think there's still a few stwists that you may not see coming…

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, nothing, nothing.

Three days. That was all that he had. How could he get seventeen thousand dollars in three days? It seemed impossible. He knew no one who had that much money to spare, except Grace, but he couldn't ask her. She seemed so distant and fake.

Luke seemed to notice every minute, every second slip by. He was beginning to crack. Kevin saw it; Will saw it and Helen saw it. Joan might have seen it, if only she hadn't suddenly become so preoccupied. What she was preoccupied with, no one really knew, until two days later.

The family, plus Judy and Ken, were sitting around the table having morning tea, which consisted of Judy's overcooked biscuits. Will had asked innocently enough if Joan had caught up with Adam. Joan had almost choked on the biscuit she was eating.

"Adam?" she said, trying to sound as if the very thought of Adam was in the past. "Yeah, I saw him yesterday. Beautiful kids. Is it Eliza and Michael? And his wife Hilary, she is a really nice girl."

"Oh," said Will, "so you've met the Rove clan? They really are a perfect family."

Will was obviously being a typical man and took no notice as Joan flinched at those words. Joan was being a typical woman and pretended that it didn't hurt. The truth was it hurt her a lot. She had never had a boyfriend since Adam, and she wasn't sure if she could just accept that he had a wife and two gorgeous children.

Helen sensed the danger in the conversation, so instead turned to Luke. "Luke, you've been acting odd lately. Everything alright?" she asked in a very motherly way.

Luke jumped at the sound of his name. "What, yeah I'm fine, just great, I'm dandy in fact. I think I'm just going to get a water of glass…I mean a glass of water. Yeah, I'll go pay th…I mean get that."

Luke felt his palms sweating, and his heart pounding. He knew that if these guys came to get him, he'd be living in the Arcadia Hospital for Invalids and the Brain Dead, or at the very least, he would be getting wheelchair tips off Kevin.

He retreated to the kitchen, and steadied himself on the bench. He then sat down, and thought hard. He knew that he was putting not only himself at risk, but also his family and friends. He had to do something. It was not going to take care of itself.

He ran through various ridiculous ideas; selling his soul on eBay, win a dodge ball competition, enter his family in a singing competition, but none of these seemed somehow useable.

He knew he needed a solution fast. He realised that there was only one realistic answer; Grace. As much as he didn't ant to, he had to. Who knows, if he didn't pay up, Grace could be in danger herself. He waited in the kitchen for ten extra minutes, and then went back out to his family.

"I'm just going for a drive," he said.

"Where are you going?" asked Helen, raising her eyebrows slightly.

"Um, Grace's," he said quietly.

Now Helen's eyebrows were raised to an extreme level, but she remained silent.

Luke gave one last glance at his family and then ducked out of the house, and exited the front door. He sat in the car and retrieved the pocket phonebook that was kept in there, and found Grace's address. 321 Hillview Drive, Arcadia Hills.

Luke only had a vague idea where that was, but after driving around the area for awhile, he pulled up in front of a large two story house, with massive gates, that were covered in thick twisting vines. Luke wasn't as surprised as he normally would have been about seeing a house of its caliber, but the surrounding houses were just as large as the Grace's, if not larger, so it didn't seem too out of the ordinary.

Luke parked outside the house, and rang the bell that was hiding under some overgrown vines on one of the pillars that held up the gate. After about thirty seconds, a females voice answered. "Hello, who's calling?"

Luke immediately knew it wasn't Grace. This voice was breathy and light. Grace's was full, and more robust.

"Uh, hi. Um…I was wondering if I could speak to Miss Polk…err…Polonski…wait, um, Whitehouse. I'm Luke Girardi"

There was a long pause, and finally the voice answered back, "You may enter." The gates began to open, and Luke got back into his car, and entered into the property.

He parked the car and walked up to the front door, which was huge, with a big brass knocker and matching handle.

He rang the doorbell, and Grace was a t the door in no time.

"Hi Girardi. I was hoping to see you," she said happily.

Luke was once again dumbfounded by her look, but this time because she was so…Grace. Her hair was messy and pushed up into a messy ponytail, although it didn't quite hide the extensive highlights. Her manicured nails had polish on them, although it was chipped. And best of all, Luke thought to himself, she had no makeup on.

Her reception today was much warmer. She pulled him into a passionate hug, and it was several minutes before Grace released Luke.

She must have noticed his expression, so she explained as she led Luke into a different room.

"I was so sure you wouldn't be back. Not after the way I acted at the barbeque. I hate going out. People are always harassing me, asking for advice and stuff. What would they think if I went out in my trackies and bed hair? So that's why I had to be like that at the party."

Luke nodded, but inside he was more relieved than he let on. At least there was a reason for Grace's behaviour.

Grace stopped in a kitchen, about three times the size of his parents. Grace got some milk and some Anzac biscuits for the two.

They sat talking for a while, although not about much. The weather and silly things like that. Then they endured a few minutes silence, in which time Luke's palms began to sweat. Then they spoke about New York and Arcadia. Another pregnant pause, and now Luke felt his heart begin to pound. It was after the third pause, when Luke had felt a vein in his head start pumping that Grace asked him what was wrong.

He started to say nothing, but stopped himself. He had to tell her. The sooner he did the sooner he could leave the house and start afresh.

He clenched his eyes shut and grit his teeth. He took a deep breath, and prepared himself to lose Grace's respect.

"Inesevtinthouanddoss," he mumbled.

"What?" asked Grace vaguely.

Luke took a second breath, and said a little more confidently, "I need seventeen thousand dollars."

At first Luke thought he was going to get a slap around the face, but Grace's face quickly turned into one of pity. "Oh geek, what did you do?"

Next Chapter: What does Grace do? And finally, I am going to say something more about Adam. Yay! Anyway, till next time, have a great time! And I want 4 reviews!